FORT WORTH – Brad Keselowski exited Sunday’s AAA Texas 500 with a decent grasp on the fourth and final playoff spot ahead of the final race before the championship field is set.

Given what occurred on the first lap, the Team Penske driver hardly lamented his fifth-place finished.

“We’ll take it,” Keselowski said. “I still want more. I hate to give up those stage points. Nineteen points isn’t terrible for a cushion. We’ll need to go and have a solid race at Phoenix next week and hope none of the other guys win.”

Two more slots in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series playoffs were taken here at Texas Motor Speedway on Sunday. Kevin Harvick’s victory Sunday -- his first win in Texas -- locked him in and Martin Truex Jr.’s second-place finish gave him enough points secure a spot. With last weekend’s win, Kyle Busch became the first driver to attain a slot in the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway in two weeks.

Keselowski had to pit on the first lap of the 500-mile race after Busch drifted up the track and made contact. That put him a lap down in 39th place.

“Something happened on lap one and basically we started the race last and a lap-and-a-half down,” Keselowski said. “That cost us a bunch of stage points, but we rallied with a solid effort to get back to fifth. I’m happy for that.”

Keselowski has a 19-point lead on Denny Hamlin, who is fifth in the standings entering next Sunday’s race in Phoenix.

Hamlin, who finished third on Sunday, and Ryan Blaney (22 points behind Keselowski) are certainly within striking distance. The two Hendrick Motorsports drivers (Chase Elliott and seven-time champ Jimmie Johnson), however, will likely need to win in Phoenix to secure a spot in the finals.

Elliott started 34th after his car failed to clear technical inspection and didn’t make a qualifying run on Friday. He rallied to finish eighth, but is still 49 points behind Keselowski.

“We just never really hit on it,” Elliott said. “We couldn’t find it at all. It was a very frustrating afternoon. We’ll just go on to Phoenix. We are going to try our best, try to get a victory and go on to Homestead.”

Johnson, who had won for seventh time this 1.5-mile oval in April, started ninth and slowly drifted back in the pack as the race wore on. He finished in 27th place, three laps down.

Johnson has won four times in Phoenix, but not since 2009.

“In places where we expect to run well and traditionally do, we haven’t,” Johnson said. “But I know we’re building a better race car and taking a few new ideas to Phoenix and we’ll go there and fight as hard as we can. And that’s one thing this team will never do is give up.”

Matt Kenseth jumps off his car at Phoenix Raceway after securing his first win of the season on Nov. 12. Kenseth does not have a ride in 2018, so Phoenix could end up being his last Cup victory.
Joe Camporeale, USA TODAY Sports